Railway-signal for grade-crossings.



ION

RAILWAY SIGNAL FOR GRADE CROSSINGS.

I C. HOUGH APPLICATION FILED FEB. I3, I9I7.

CHASE HOUGHTON, OF PACIFEC GROVE, CALIFORNIA, .iSSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO JAMES E. BEAN, 0F SAN J OSE,

CALIFORNIA RAILWAY- SIGNAL FOR GBADE-CROSSINGS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb. 18;, 193.3%

Application filed February 13, 31917. Serial No. 148,439.

To all lwhom it may concern:

Be it known .that I, STEPHEN CHAsE HoUGHToN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pacific Grove, in the county of Monterey'and State of California, .have invented certain new and useful ImproveN ments in Railway-Signals for Grade-Crossings, of which4 the. following is a specification.

My invention relates to the class of railway-signals adapted for use particularly at grade-crossings.

The value and eiiiciency of a warning signal depend essentially upon and arein proportion to their impressiveness, that is to say, the force with which they compel attention. But other factors enter into the problem, as, -for example, simplicity in construction, resulting in economy in manilfacture and certainty in operation or use. It will readily be understood, therefore, that a signal involving movingparts, no matter how well it may compel attention, may be so complex that its operation is uncertain and its construction faulty and liable to derangement necessitating frequent adjustment andl repair, son that its employment therefore may be attended with prohibitive expense.

The object of my invention is to avoid these objections by providing a fixed or non-movable signal of simple construction, but adapted, by its general form and the now universal 'eduction of the public with respect toits warning character, to, not only attract attention, but also, by reason of its `improved structure, to more orcibl than iever before compel said attention. o this end m invention consists in the novel signal w ich I shall now fully describe by `reference to the accompanying drawings,

in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation nal, partly in section.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. f

Fi 4 is an end view of one of the arms, the dotted lines showing the construction lying under the cap.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the automatic electric control of the signal light.' v

The signal essentially comprises a cruciof my sigfornii structure indicated a central-light structure, represented The cruciforni structure is, in its liest form, composed of founradial arms subtending right angles, and so suspended by two of its arms :trom a bar C, that it hangs vertically and each arml meets a central horizontal plane at an acute angle. Thus the device intentionally presents the forni of the now universality accepted and well known. conventional upright cruciform warning railway signal at grade crossings.

It must be understood that the entire signal may, in detail be constructed in any suitable manner, and that in describing its construction as here illustrated, om dis-- closing merely the preferred det il The sides of the arms, using tm, word sides in contradistinction to fronts o s. are composed of a single continuous st of sheet-metal, which beginning at any given point, say the extremity et one arm, thence extends radially to a central drinn 2, to which it conforms and is secured at 3, aid thence extends radially from said drum to the extremity of a second arm, at which it is bent at right angles to form vthe end of said arm; thence inwardly again t0 the drum 2 te which it is again secured, thus completing said second arm; thence outwardly once more to the extremity of the third arm and bent at riOht angles and thence inwardly to the drinn, thus completing the third arm, and so forth to 'torni the fourth arm, and after completing the first arm, reaches the line of beginning.

slipped the sheets or panes 5 of translucent material, in practice white opalescent glass, which form the facesof the arms and thus convert said arms into chamb'ered or lioliow closures. The glass panes are held in place by caps 6 which cover the ends of the arms, the caps being removably held iii-place by short bolts 7.

The central drum 2 has openings 2 into the inner ends of the hollow arms.

Carried by a bracket 8 secured to the inner ends of the two um) arms and do pending in the drum is an electric lamp El, from Which run the wires 10 oi an electric circuit. This circuit is adapted in the man, ner usual with warning lights of this gen eral character', to be closed and opened automatically by the approach and recession of a train to and from the ncighhorhoml of -the signal. For example as shown in Fig.

5 a simple arrangement may be as follows: 2O indicates a section oli a railway ti'aclc, having at 21, the insulated raihjoints. The rails nave a circuit QQ includingr track battery 23 and a `relay MC with a switch armature 25 to which is connected the wire 10 leadin 1 to the light 9 of the signal. stru ture A. vhe other member 2G of the switch is connected with a battery 27 which by the wire 10 is includedin the signal light eircnit. The car wheels While on the tracksection 20 shunt the track battery 23 which causes the relay 24 to drop the armature 25 onto the switch member 26 thereby com loting he ing signal light circuit. yVhen to. car le ves the track section, the track battery energizes the relay and opens the signal light circuit.

11 is a hood, one on each side. The outer portion of the hood is of an inverted U- shape, as shown in Fig. 1, and is open at its outer end, so. that the rays of light may be seen both through ils end and bottom thereby' attracting attention from a. distance and from below it nem by. The inner end of :he hood cylimn .l and is inwardly i* ed t 12, Fig. 2, to 'Forni a seat for thI lens 1;). There is a len: l each side, andthey are red ones, their v giving the usual end conventional msrning red. light, and by reason of the lmod, this li ght visible :also by dey.

The lens is held in place by a slip 'ring 14 'in the hood.

The hood 11 on one side is removably fitted to the drum by means of e slip sleeve 15 secured to its exterior Iand iitted to the drum ends, being held in placebythe screws 16.

The signal is suspended from the har t) by means of hangers 17 secured to the two upper arms, the bar passing through. the hangers and confined by Cotter pins 18. The bar C with its signal may be carried hy any lsuitable support, and it may he located in any .desired position. Its bestlocntion is directly above the roadway and in the mid die thereof, and in this position it may be carried by its bar C clamped to an ove hanging arm of a side post or clamped to e cross cable extending between posts on each side of the roadway. As these form no part of my invention, I have not deemed it necessary to illustrate such supports and positions ast-bese arevv'ellknown.` At ends of the arms I have shown -air vente said arms and havin lt will now be seen that in my device there :1re combined essentially the conventional vertically disposed cruci'liorln ward ing arms of a railway crossing' signal, `and the convential red-light danger signal. Both arc conspicuous day and night. ln the day time the white translucent faces of the arms and the hooded red light in the center nre both ohjecl's which compel, attention. At night, the rays of the lamp entering the hollow arms illuminate their translucent opnlesccnt glass panos with n whiteness most eilective visually, and the red rays transmitted by the lenses are equally effective. Both are Warnings to which the public has long been` educated,

-and their increased effect, due to their union in one device, their relative ari-angen'lent,`

and their inherent conspicuousness, rene ders the device as a whole a simple, elfec-Y drum centrally disposed with relation to said arms and having openings in its peripher f into the cavities thereof; and a danger signal light Within the drum some of the rays of said light being visible through the ends of the drum und other rays thereof `illurnin'ating the translucent faces of the arms through the openings in the drum periphery'.

3. A railway-signal comprising hollow` radially directed warning arms, the func tional faces of which are translucent; a drum centrally disposed with relation to openings in its per riphery into the cavities thereof a light 1' within. the drum, some of the rays of which illuminate the trfuislucent faces of the arms;

sind red lenses in the drum for converting thercmaining rays of the light into a danger signal visible through the ends ofthe drum.

'A railway-signal comprising hollow 1adielly directed warning arms, the functional faces of which :1re translucent;. a

drum centrally disposed with relation tov said arms and. having openmgs in its pe` riphery into the cavities thereof; a light within the drum, some of the rays of `which illuminate the translucent faces of the arms;

red lenses in the drum for converting the remaining rays ofA the light into a danger signal visible through the ends of the drum,

v from said lenses.

5. A railway-signal comprising hollow radially directed Warning arms, the funetional faces of which are translucent; s drum centrally disposed with relation to said arms and having openings in its periphery into 'the cavities thereof; a. light within the drum, some of the rays of which illuminate the translucent faces of the arms; red lenses in the drum for converting the remaining rays of the light into a danger signal visible through the ends of the drum, and open ended bonds projecting outwardly from said lenses, said hoods being also open 15 in theiz` lower portion.

ln testimony whereof il have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

Witnesses:

WVM. F. BOOTH, D. B. RICHARDS. 

